Die cast shuttle guide



Oct. 16, 1956 w. A. HOFMANN 2,766,777

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Q l/l/HL me Hamm/wv l 1 plir/rf 75Mi- Oct. 16, 1956 w. A. HOFMANN DIE CAST SHUTTLE GUIDE Filed Jan. 25, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 K INVENToR. WAL rg@ HoF/MANN Oct. 16, 1956 w. A. Hor-'MANN DIE CAST SHUTTLE GUIDE 5 Shets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 25, 1952 NVENToR. WAL rae H. HoFMfl/v/v BY #9, Mi WMM? nroe/vEys heeft! DIE CAST SHUTTLE GUIDE Application January 25, 1952, Serial No. 268,191

6 Claims. (Cl. 139-188) This invention relates to looms and, more particularly, to an improved shuttle guide for use therewith.

There is described in U. S. Patent No. 2,316,703, issued April 13, 1943 to A. Moessingetr, a lay mechanism employing shuttle guide means adapted for use with very high speed looms. An improved guide means intended for use with the lay mechanism `of Moe'ssinger is described in U. S. Patent No. 2,538,630, issued January 16, 1951 to P. Rusnov.

The guide means utilized in the mechanism of the above-referenced patents is characterized in that a "large number of guide plates or elements are disposed at rel-atively small intervals along the length of t-he lay bar. Such an arrangement has been found to give the continuity of guiding effect necessary where there is an oblique relation between the plane of the shed and the direction of movement of the lay. Stringent requirements are, however, imposed upon the structure; namely, that the guide elements be similarly and precisely formed; that the guides be maintained in precise horizontal, vertical and lateral alignment; that, the elements be easily replaceable to provide for normal wear and tear; and, finally, that the mass of the entire assembly be a minimum so as to `avoid the objectionable effects of high rotational inertia in the lay mechanism.

The present invention is concerned with a guide assembly of improved construction and adapted particularly to meet the above-referenced conflicting requirements. The guide elements are grouped to form sections, each section comprising a plurality of elements, as e. g. four, and the elements formed into a unitary assembly by means of a die cast body or matrix. This matrix surrounds the lower portion of the guide elements and serves to precisely position the elements in relation to each other. Two forms of the invention are provided differing in that the first provides die cast surfaces for engaging the lay bar in a tongue-and-groove fashion to provide a precise positioning of the section with respect to the lay bar. In the remaining form of the invention, the disposition of the section relative to the lay bar is determined by ground surfaces at the forward edges of the guide elements while the matrix serves only to determine the disposition of the several guide elements with respect to each other. lmportant aspects of the invention are presented in that a substantial reduction in the mass of the guide element is achieved, and that the sections are adapted for quantity production at minimum cost.

The objects and features of the invention, together with the nature of the invention itself, will be more readily apparent from a consideration of the following detailed specification and appended claims, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a gripper-shuttle loom;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the loom of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a front view of a portion of the lay mechanism of the loom of Fig. l and showing particularly the shuttle guides thereof;

s arent Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view, and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing one form of the guide section in `accordance with the invention; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view, and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing a second form Vof a guide section in accordance with the invention.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown a weaving machine of the gripper-shuttle type. The invention is of especial use and importance in such machines, which operate automatically and at high speeds. The weaving machine comprises a .supporting frame including a pair of side plates 21 and 22 secured to cross members 23 and 24, as shown in cross section in Fig. 2. The machine includes a cloth beam 25 to wind a roll of cloth 26; heddle frames 27 carrying the heddles; a shedding mechanism enclosed within a housing 28; and one or more stationary spools or packages 29 for 4the weft yarns. A shuttle picking box 10 and receiving box 11 .are provided for handling `of the shuttle. The shuttle picking, guiding, and conveying mechanism tof the machine may be of the general type disclosed in U. S. Patents 2,160,338, 2,160,339, 2,316,703 and 2,420,380 to A. Moessinger and U. S. Patent 2,099,627 to R. Rossm-an.

In the apparatus represented in Fig. 1, there is an electric motor 31 for providing the driving power, which is adapted both to drive the main shaft .32 through suitable drive, such as a drive 33. A hand wheel 34 may also be provided for the main drive shaft 32. In order to facilitate rapid stoppage of 'operating parts of the weaving machine in case of thread failure or failure of some operative part of the weaving machine, an automatically operating clutch and brake mechanism is also provided which is concealed Within the drum 35 represented in Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 2, the weaving machine includes a warp beam 36, heddle frames 27 carrying heddle eyes 37, lay mechanism 38, lay bar and main drive shaft support box 39 and `the cloth beam 25. There is a conventional supporting bar 411 carrying a plurality of drop wires 41 for an electrical stop mechanism responsive to failure of warp yarn. The warp beam 36 is provided with a let-off mechanism comprising a gear drive including gears 42 and 43 mounted respectively on :a .shaft 44 and on the warp beam 36. There is a pivoted support for a whip roll 45. For Aremovably supporting one or more warp beams for adapting the weaving machine to produce one or more widths of cloth, a supporting frame 46 is provided such as described in greater detail in U. S. Patent 2,514,152, issued July 4, 1950 to N. P. Darash.

During the operation of the weaving machine, the warp yarns 47 are drawn from the warp beam 36 over the whip roll 45 through the drop wires 41 and formed into a shed 48 by the operation of the hedd-les 27 controlled by the shedding mechanism 28. They are then drawn through the dents of the reed 49 carried by the lay mechanism 38 along conventional `rolls 50 to the cloth beam 25 in the form of cloth 51. As in conventional gripper-shuttle weaving machines, the weft threads, thrown through the shed 48 by the mechanism in the picker box 1d, are beaten in by the reed 49 to form the cloth. In traveling from the picking box 10 to the receiving box 11 through the shed 4S, the shuttle passes through and is guided by shuttle guides which form a part of the lay mechanism 38. The lay mechanism includes a lay bar which supports the shuttle guides and is pivoted upon the lay bar shaft to position the guides in the shed during the picking loperation.

Refeuring now to Figs. 3 through 7, the embodiments of the invention shown therein are intended for utilization in the loom of Figs. 1 and 2, a portion of the lay bar 60 of that loom being shown in Fig. 3.

As shown generally in Fig. 3, the shuttle guide of the invention comprises a plurality of. guide elementsi, the .elements being formed into unitary portions or sections by a matrix or body 62 of cast metal. The sections are sequentially disposed along the lay bar 6% so as to provide the necessary disposition of guide elements across the width of the ioom. Machine screws 63 serve as means for detachably securing the sections to the lay bar. Any section may thus be inserted or removed from the assembly without disturbing the adjacent sections.

The embodiment of the invention of Figs. 4 and 5 is illustrated with reference to one form of lay bar, particularly the lay bar 60, which may be of any suitable cross-section and configured to provide a locating or reference surface 64 which extends longitudinally along the length of the bar. The surface 64 is formed by a projection 65 which extends from the main body portion 66 of the bar to form a shoulder portion 67 and recess 68 therewith. At the upper side of the lay bar, the projection 65 forms only a shoulder 69, the body of the bar being cut away to minimize the mass of the bar. The bar may, however, be extended to form a cooperating recess 70 as is shown in Fig. 6, a projection 71 of the lay bar 72 corresponding to the projection 65 of the lay bar 60.

Each of the shuttle guide sections comprises a plurality of shuttle or weft needle guide elements which are shown in their preferred form as shuttle guide plates 73. The upper portion of each plate is configured for and formed with an opening 74 which is adapted to receive a shuttle, such as the shuttle 75 of Fig. 6. It is, of course, a part of the problem solved by the invention that the openings 74 of successive plates must be carefully and precisely aligned across the entire width of the lay bar.

The lower portions of the guide plates 73 are supported and maintained in position relative to each other by a matrix or body '76 of light weight cast metal. The body 76 is formed with vertical and longitudinal extents sufficient to adequately enclose and support the lower portions of the guide plates while the front portion 77 is formed so as to expose the front edges 78 of the plates 73 and reduce the mass of the body.

The body 76 is formed at the forward position thereof with the necessary surfaces for the positioning of the body of the section relative to the lay bar. To this end, upper and lower shoulder portions 79 and 80 and surfaces S1 and 82, which form recesses relative to the shoulder portions 79 and 30, are provided for cooperation with the corresponding shoulders and recesses of the lay bar. In the embodiment of Fig. 5, the surfaces 81 and 82 are spaced from the forward edges 78 of the guide plates and are molded directly during the casting operation. Finally, as shown in Fig. 4, the rear edges of the guide plates are recessed, as shown at 83, to increase the strength of the body 76 while openings are provided through the body and between the plates 73 to receive the screws 63.

The guide section 84 of Figs. 6 and 7 comprises guide plates 85 and a cast support body 86, similar to the section of Figs. 4 and 5. The section 84, however, is somewhat lighter than the section of Figs. 4 and 5, a result accomplished by a somewhat different arrangement of the surfaces and projections which serve to position the section relative to the lay bar. As shown particularly in Fig. 7, each guide plate is provided with upper and lower projections 87 and 88 formed integrally with the plate and ground surfaces S9 and 90 formed in the front edge of the plate. The body 86 may thusn extend forward to a plane 'somewhat less than ush with the surfaces 89 and 90, thus minimizing the mass attributable to the cast metal portion of the section. This result is further enhanced by recessing the rear portion of the body to partially conform with the recess rear edges of the plates 85. Asindicated at 91, this recess allows the screws 63 to bear directly upon the rear edges of the plates 85.

It will be apparent that the surfaces 89 and 90 of the section of Fig. 7 correspond in function to the surfaces S1 and 82 of the section of Fig. 5, e. g. in positioning the section horizontally against the projection or 71 of the lay bar. Similarly, the porjections 87 and 88 of the section of Fig. 7 correspond in function to the shoulder portions 79 and 8), e. g. in positioning the section vertically with respect to the lay bar. Finally, it will be evident that other means for detachably securing the sections to the lay bar than the screws 63 may be utilized within the spirit of the invention.

In production, the guide sections are formed by any suitable means such as stamping or forging. The sections are then positioned in fixtures which serve to space the elements lateraily. A block similar in outline to the shuttle but dimensioned to proper tolerances is then positioned in the opening 74. The block serves as an exact indexing or pilot fixture and the body or matrix of the section is poured while the guide plates are thus held in position. By this means, it has been found possible to form the guide sections at a relatively low production cost while achieving the high order of accuracy of alignment necessary where many guide elements are utilized per unit distance and extending over relatively long distances.

The body or matrix 62 of the guide section may be formed of any of the light weight zinc or aluminum base casting alloys well known in the art. The invention is not'to be considered as limited to particular materials, however, since any suitable casting material may be used such as, e. g. the resinous compounds. The utilization of such materials is determined to be within the spirit of the invention inasmuch as a reduction of weight on the rapidly vibrating lay bar is a primary object of the invention.

It is to be understood that the specific nature of the present disclosure is not intended to be restrictive or conning and that various rearrangements of parts and modiications of design may be resorted to without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as herein claimed.

What is claimed is:

l. In a gripper-shuttle loom, the combination of a lay bar, a plurality of guide elements spaced along said lay bar, means forming a plurality of said guide elements into a unitary section adapted for attachment to said lay barcomprising a body of cast material receiving the lower portions of the elements, means formed on said body of cast material and 'said lay bar for interengagement thereof and constraint of said section against relative vertical and horizontal movement with respect to said lay bar,

saidvmeans including threaded fastening means for securing said section to said lay bar.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said interengaging means comprising recesses along the length of the lay bar and shoulders on the body of the section tted into the recesses.

3. The invention in accordance with claim l, said interengaging means comprising complementary shoulders and recesses on said lay bar and the body of the section.

4. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said casting material comprising a light weight metal alloy and said interengaging means comprising complementary shoulders and recesses on said lay bar and the body of the section.

5. The invention in accordance with claim l, said cast material comprising a light weight metal alloy and said interengaging means comprising recesses along the length of the lay bar, and shoulders in the body of the section fitted into the recesses.

6. A shuttle guide for gripper-shuttle looms comprising a plurality of at, relatively elongated guide elements, each element comprising an upper and a lower portion, a front edge along the length of said lower portion, arear edge along the length of the said lower portion, recesses in the lower portion of the element, extending forwardly from the rear edge thereof, and a body of cast metal References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS uniting the lower portions of the elements in spaced par- 1848294 Home Mar' 8 alle] relationship, the body enclosing and engaging the 5 1923827 H9 Aug' 22 lower portions of the elements including the recesses in 2014529 Kmseua et al' Sept 17 the rear edges thereof and extending forwardly to form 2248641 Moessmger July 8 1941 transverse shoulder portions raised with respect to the 2259655 Morto? Oct' 21 1941 front edges of the elements and spaced along the length 2316703 Moessmger Apr' 13 1943 of the lower portion 10 2,538,630 Rusnov Jan. 16, 1951 

